Re: Nitrates - help please !!!
- Subject: Re: Nitrates - help please !!!
- Date: Sat, 13 Jan 2007 18:40:18 -0000
- Yahoo! Message Number: 88497
- Onibasu Link: http://onibasu.com/archives/nn/88497.html
I have studied the curing process extensively. I have taken the
UW-cured meats and sausage course and am a UW Extension Master Food
Preserver. To provide the healthiest meat from my farm, I am in the
process of building a micro USDA meat processing plant on my farm. I am
not a meat scientist, and there is much more to learn. I have put
together the following information for you, all documented off the web,
where you can learn more. I tried to put the curing process in
chronological order so it is easier to follow, and answered a few
questions.
First, here is a quote from Sally Fallon's Article "Nasty,
Brutish and Short" off the WAPF site:
"Normally, according to Stefansson, the diet consisted of dried or
cured meat "eaten with fat," namely the highly saturated cavity and back
slab fat that could be easily separated from the animal".
Perhaps the answer to our nitrate concerns is to eat enough super
healthy fat along with our traditional cured meats for a protective
effect.
Would this include nitrates in green leafy vegetables like spinach?
I don't know. I didn't look too deeply but it just caught my eye
while I was looking for something else. Here's the article:
d-pressur\
e.html
<
d-pressur\e.html>
Something to note:
In the above mentioned article, the sodium nitrate was not consumed from
vegetables, but as "dietary supplements of sodium nitrate". In
fact, they later said: " there isn't all that much nitrate in those
vegetables. "Too get as much nitrate as was given in the study, you
would have to eat about half a pound of spinach," he said. "As a
practical issue, it's hard to ingest 250 grams of nitrate-rich foods."
Although it wouldn't be hard for me to eat a half a pound of spinach;
the point is the research used Sodium Nitrate.
How about processed meats with nitrates from celery juice?
From an Italian processor:
"Chr Hansen has now developed a new natural cure for manufacturers
to achieve the traditional flavour, colour, and stability of cured meats
without adding synthetic nitrates or nitrites. The company's natural
ingredient and meat culture can be used in place of nitrite to naturally
cure meats.
Naturally occurring nitrates are converted by the culture to nitrite and
thus naturally cure the meat. Since this curing process utilises
naturally occurring nitrates, the label declaration becomes consumer
friendly.
In the US for example, the finished product can be labelled as 'uncured'
in accordance with labelling regulations from the USDA. If nitrites and
nitrates are not added to a traditional cured meat product, the product
must be labelled as 'uncured' (9CFR317.17).
"These natural ingredients offer the same functionality as traditional
curing methods, and provides consumers with a natural choice," said
Teresa Supnet-Rosa, regional industry manager for meat and prepared
foods at Chr Hansen".
http://www.foodnavigator.com/news/ng.asp?id=67304
<http://www.foodnavigator.com/news/ng.asp?id=67304>
And from Niman Ranch:
"Despite USDA regulations, it's probably more accurate to say that
our uncured products are naturally cured. Instead of adding nitrate or
nitrite chemicals, we use celery juice, a source of naturally occurring
sodium nitrate. During processing, the nitrate in celery juice is
consumed by lacto bacteria, anaerobic organisms similar to the friendly
bacteria in yogurt that like a salty environment. As the natural curing
process occurs, the nitrate in celery juice is consumed by the lacto
bacteria and converted, first to nitrite, then to nitrous oxide,
dissipating into the atmosphere. As a result, only minute amounts of
nitrate remain in the meat. But the nitrate has done its job: inhibiting
bacteria, helping meat to retain its pink color, and adding depth of
flavor".
RanchStore-Site/en_US/-/USD/ViewApplication-DisplayStaticContent;pgid=xK\
vgm0fCG5o00087wRNcTivc0000RubVhlY4;sid=kDp2c6RVtHV2YuHNkTC2264UmULCjq0tJ\
Mc=?Page=content%2FFAQs&Light=#Q23
<
nRanchStore-Site/en_US/-/USD/ViewApplication-DisplayStaticContent;pgid=x\
Kvgm0fCG5o00087wRNcTivc0000RubVhlY4;sid=kDp2c6RVtHV2YuHNkTC2264UmULCjq0t\
JMc=?Page=content%2FFAQs&Light=#Q23>
How much nitrite or nitrous oxide is actually dissipated into the
atmosphere, and how much remains in the product is not known. Or, is it
the same amount that dissipates into the atmosphere when sodium nitrite
is added, with out the celery? BTW, Sodium lactate is being added to
most `cured' meat for the listeria control. Some of this is a
labeling issue. Nitrates and nitrites are still doing the work, but
they are labeled differently. So if you don't add synthetic sodium
nitrate,or nitrite, you must label it 'uncured'. What we don't have
is a study showing what the different residual nitrite and nitrous-oxide
levels are in the two different types of curing.
And where do nitrites fit into this picture?
Are nitrites more prone to form nitrosamines than nitrates?
I think it is nitrites that form nitrosamines, but nitrates can beActually, Nitrates (NaNO3) convert to nitrites (NaNO2): "When
converted to nitrites by microorganisms in food or in the gut.
nitrate is used, it must be first converted to nitrite by microorganisms
present in the meat"
http://www.uwex.edu/ces/flp/meatscience/sausage.html#ingred
<http://www.uwex.edu/ces/flp/meatscience/sausage.html#ingred>
"Nitrites are the more active form. In processed meats, nitrites are
reduced to nitric oxides, which in turn react with heme pigments in
muscle tissue, forming a stable red color (i.e. they keep cured meats
pink rather than turning brown). Nitrites also give rise to some of the
cured meat flavors". http://food.oregonstate.edu/c/nitrite.html
<http://food.oregonstate.edu/c/nitrite.html>
"In a series of normal reactions, nitrite is converted to nitric
oxide. Nitric oxide combines with myoglobin, the pigment responsible for
the natural red color of uncured meat. They form nitric oxide myoglobin,
which is a deep red color (as in uncooked dry sausage) that changes to
the characteristic bright pink normally associated with cured and smoked
meat (such as wieners and ham) when heated during the smoking
process".
http://www.extension.umn.edu/distribution/nutrition/DJ0974.html
<http://www.extension.umn.edu/distribution/nutrition/DJ0974.html>
"Nitrite exerts its antibotulinal effect in two different ways: it
can form undissociated nitrous acid (HNO2), which is able to pass the
ion barrier of bacterial cell wall and disrupt the function of iron and
sulfur containing enzymes (Pierson and Smoot, 1987). In heat treated
products, nitrite forms the Perigo Type factor (PTF) which is inhibitory
to C. botulinum (Perigo et al., 1967; Christiansen et al., 1973). The
antibotulinal effect of nitrite is enhanced by an increase in NaCl
concentration and a decrease in pH".
l
<
ml>
When subjected to intense heat, and in the presence of (especially
secondary) amines, nitrites decompose to form n-nitrosamines. A classic
example of formation of nitrosamines is in the frying of bacon.
http://food.oregonstate.edu/c/nitrite.html
<http://food.oregonstate.edu/c/nitrite.html>
"Not all cured meat products contain nitrosamines; when present,
they usually are in very minute amounts
The effects of heating meat products cured with nitrite have been
investigated. The previously cited study, "Effect of Frying and Other
Cooking Conditions on Nitrosopyrrolidine Formation in Bacon," by J.W.
Pensabene, et al., indicated that when bacon was fried at 210 degrees F
for 10 minutes (raw), 210 degrees F for 105 minutes (medium well), 275
degrees F for 10 minutes (very light), or 275 degrees F for 30 minutes
(medium well), no conclusive evidence of nitrosopyrrolidine could be
found. But when bacon was fried at 350 degrees F for 6 minutes (medium
well), 400 degrees F for 4 minutes (medium well), or 400 degrees F for
10 minutes (burned), nitrosopyrrolidine formation was conclusively found
at 10, 17, and 19 parts per billion.
Thus, ***well done or burned bacon probably is potentially more
hazardous than less well done bacon***. Bacon cooked by microwave has
less nitrosamine than fried bacon. Consumers should cook bacon properly.
The same study and one by W. Fiddler, et al. (J. Food Sci., 39:1070,
1974) have shown that fat cook-out or drippings usually contain more
nitrosopyrrolidine than the bacon contains.
It is unknown at what levels, if any, nitrosamines are formed in humans
after they eat cured meat products, or what constitutes a dangerous
level in meat or in humans. Nitrosamines are found very infrequently in
all cured products except overcooked bacon, as discussed above".
http://www.extension.umn.edu/distribution/nutrition/DJ0974.html
<http://www.extension.umn.edu/distribution/nutrition/DJ0974.html> (I
added the *** above)
"Ascorbic acid (vitamin C) is also added to bacon, along with
nitrites, to serve as an antioxidant (to prevent the nitrites oxidizing
to nitrosamines)". http://food.oregonstate.edu/c/nitrite.html
<http://food.oregonstate.edu/c/nitrite.html>
NOTE: BEER sometimes has detectable nitrosamines formed during roasting
of barley malt (Havery, 1985) http://food.oregonstate.edu/c/nitrite.html
<http://food.oregonstate.edu/c/nitrite.html>
Although there is some evidence that n-nitrosamines can form
spontaneously in the body, it is generally accepted that processed meat
(source of free amines) that is subjected to intense heat is the main
risk. (Nitrate that comes in your spinach is not likely to be a
significant source of nitrosamines.)
http://food.oregonstate.edu/c/nitrite.html
<http://food.oregonstate.edu/c/nitrite.html>
The Meat Smoking and Curing FAQ11: Some prepared baby food vegetables
contain large (>250 ppm) concentrations of nitrates (2), which may be a
significant exposure (see below).3453 (6)718speculation without heating,
nitrosamines are generally not recovered from foods that have not been
fried (1) 9(link to http://www.aob.org/aob/glossary.html
<http://www.aob.org/aob/glossary.html> )
http://food.oregonstate.edu/c/nitrite.html
<http://food.oregonstate.edu/c/nitrite.html>
I hope this was helpful!
Jan
Onibasu Link: http://onibasu.com/archives/nn/88497.html